Denver Councilman Michael Hancock said today he raised more than $265,000 in 2010 for his mayoral campaign — an early announcement that some believe is a strategic move intended to set the field going into the first of the year.

The 2010 financial reports for each candidate are due Jan. 31, a date many believe will determine the front-runners in a race that now has 13 candidates with more possibly joining within the next week.

After inquiries from The Denver Post, other candidates fessed up their totals, including Sen. Chris Romer, whose campaign said it has raised $226,000; James Mejia, whose campaign said it has raised $208,000; and Denver Councilman Doug Linkhart, who said he has raised about $102,000.

So why did Hancock’s campaign not wait to release the figures until the Jan. 31 deadline?

“We felt good about our fund-raising numbers and wanted to share them,” said Hancock’s campaign manager Evan Dreyer. “It’s a really strong demonstration of support, the number of contributions, the online performance.”

Specifically, Hancock’s campaign said it received 748 contributions, with an average donation of $357, including 126 online contributions totaling $46,595. The campaign raised $131,562 in December alone. The totals include a transfer of about $45,000 from Hancock’s council account to the mayoral account. Hancock raised about $161,000 from the day he announced his candidacy, Nov. 12, through Dec. 31.

Linkhart said he raised his money in November and December.

Romer’s campaign said it raised $148,000 of its total in December.

Most everyone believes viable candidates must raise as much as $1 million before the May 3 election. Those who are in an expected runoff must duplicate that in the final weeks before that June 7 election.

In the 2003 mayoral election before the first round, seven candidates raised a total of $4,065,979 and spent $3.3 million. Winner John Hickenlooper raised more than $2.2 million during his total five-month campaign. Challenger Don Mares raised $956,000.

“You have to raise $1 million on top of last year’s number,” said Berrick Abramson, campaign manager for Mejia. “Anyone in this $200,000 range is clearly able to say they are viable. Anyone below that number is going to have to question, ‘Can they compete against this field?'”

But it’s not easy. The 2010 general campaign soaked up a lot of money. And the economy isn’t what it was in 2003. Also, many of the same people are being hit up by multiple candidates.

“There is a certain exhaustion,” Abramson said. “It’s going to get interesting. With that many people running advertisements, there is going to be a saturation. It’s going to come down to who is organized on the ground.”